I swore off ever getting a Glock 26 because of the protruding barrel, but sometimes I just get "ideas" and suddenly have to get things I think I hate (for no good reason).
The barrel itself is pretty ugly, but not as bad as I thought it would be. It certainly wouldn't stop a gang-banger from sticking it down their sock.
First off, the grip seemed weird at first. The grip is very short and both of my pinky fingers float off the bottom of it. I have always wanted to take my pinky out of the equation on my grips, and this forced me to do it. I tried a couple of grip variations: Standard grip and a grip where my support hand was up higher so that my index finger was gripping the front of the trigger guard. More on this later.
As I always do with new guns, I only loaded 2 rounds in the first mag. That gets me acclimated to trigger feel and recoil without the potential of surprising myself and also allows for any immediate critical failures to happen without a lot of ammunition in the gun.
Immediately I noticed how much more snap the shorter, lighter Glock had. In fact it was a surprising amount. It felt nearly as snappy as my USP fullsize in .45 ACP (keep in mind that the USP is a very light recoil for a .45, but still a bit more than a full size, polymer 9mm). Of course, the snappier recoil is just a function of physics, but it was still surprising to me.
Because of the snappiness, the modified grip was not cutting it. It worked well for slow fire, but under quicker conditions, my finger would eventually slip off the trigger guard and result in a compromised grip. Standard grip was the order of the day and became much easier as the day marched on.
The stock sights were typical Glock. Pretty much right on at close range, slightly a 6 o'clock hold at 15-25 yards.
Target acquisition is very fast on the shorter sight radius, but I also found that I made more aiming mistakes with this gun than with my full size Glock 17. Because of the snappier recoil paired with the shorter site radius, I found that I was kicking the gun downwards during rapid fire resulting in fast groups being a little more 6 o'clock than I would like them.
Another thing I should note is that the Glock 26 has the stock trigger set up in it. I am used to the ghost connector and lighter spring set up that I have run in my Glock 17 for about 5000 rounds. My trigger control has improved so much since I started shooting pistol and the stock Glock trigger really showed me that. In fact, I am going to put the stock stuff back into my G17. I quite liked the feel of the stiffer trigger. It feels better to me on reset than my modified G17 does.
I was able to replicate groups with the G26 that I get with my G17. That is, 10 round groups in about a 6x6 inch square at 10 yards. You pistol 1 MOA groupers can laugh at me, it is ok.
Final thoughts
I am glad that I did not let the protruding barrel stop me from picking up this wonderful little pistol. It is different enough from the G17 that it feels fresh to shoot, but similar enough that it is comfortable. I actually quite like the snappier recoil and the other differences such as shorter sight radius and grip are enough that I will be able to hone some shooting skills a little more by shooting this gun.
I can see why this is a popular gun for conceal carry in the States, but I would go so far as to say those who were going to carry it should definitely be at the range practicing with it.
The Glock pistol is a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing. I read about people getting a Glock as their first pistol (hey, I did) because it is popular, safe to shoot, and incredibly easy to operate. It doesn't surprise me that newbies quickly get turned off of the Glock because it is a pistol (trigger) that must be tamed. Either that or they throw in a trigger job like I did which of course negates having to learn the gun as it was meant to be.
I would not recommend this Glock as someone's first Glock (but of course the choice is theirs), but I would certainly say get one if you already shoot and enjoy other Glock offerings.
The barrel itself is pretty ugly, but not as bad as I thought it would be. It certainly wouldn't stop a gang-banger from sticking it down their sock.
First off, the grip seemed weird at first. The grip is very short and both of my pinky fingers float off the bottom of it. I have always wanted to take my pinky out of the equation on my grips, and this forced me to do it. I tried a couple of grip variations: Standard grip and a grip where my support hand was up higher so that my index finger was gripping the front of the trigger guard. More on this later.
As I always do with new guns, I only loaded 2 rounds in the first mag. That gets me acclimated to trigger feel and recoil without the potential of surprising myself and also allows for any immediate critical failures to happen without a lot of ammunition in the gun.
Immediately I noticed how much more snap the shorter, lighter Glock had. In fact it was a surprising amount. It felt nearly as snappy as my USP fullsize in .45 ACP (keep in mind that the USP is a very light recoil for a .45, but still a bit more than a full size, polymer 9mm). Of course, the snappier recoil is just a function of physics, but it was still surprising to me.
Because of the snappiness, the modified grip was not cutting it. It worked well for slow fire, but under quicker conditions, my finger would eventually slip off the trigger guard and result in a compromised grip. Standard grip was the order of the day and became much easier as the day marched on.
The stock sights were typical Glock. Pretty much right on at close range, slightly a 6 o'clock hold at 15-25 yards.
Target acquisition is very fast on the shorter sight radius, but I also found that I made more aiming mistakes with this gun than with my full size Glock 17. Because of the snappier recoil paired with the shorter site radius, I found that I was kicking the gun downwards during rapid fire resulting in fast groups being a little more 6 o'clock than I would like them.
Another thing I should note is that the Glock 26 has the stock trigger set up in it. I am used to the ghost connector and lighter spring set up that I have run in my Glock 17 for about 5000 rounds. My trigger control has improved so much since I started shooting pistol and the stock Glock trigger really showed me that. In fact, I am going to put the stock stuff back into my G17. I quite liked the feel of the stiffer trigger. It feels better to me on reset than my modified G17 does.
I was able to replicate groups with the G26 that I get with my G17. That is, 10 round groups in about a 6x6 inch square at 10 yards. You pistol 1 MOA groupers can laugh at me, it is ok.
Final thoughts
I am glad that I did not let the protruding barrel stop me from picking up this wonderful little pistol. It is different enough from the G17 that it feels fresh to shoot, but similar enough that it is comfortable. I actually quite like the snappier recoil and the other differences such as shorter sight radius and grip are enough that I will be able to hone some shooting skills a little more by shooting this gun.
I can see why this is a popular gun for conceal carry in the States, but I would go so far as to say those who were going to carry it should definitely be at the range practicing with it.
The Glock pistol is a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing. I read about people getting a Glock as their first pistol (hey, I did) because it is popular, safe to shoot, and incredibly easy to operate. It doesn't surprise me that newbies quickly get turned off of the Glock because it is a pistol (trigger) that must be tamed. Either that or they throw in a trigger job like I did which of course negates having to learn the gun as it was meant to be.
I would not recommend this Glock as someone's first Glock (but of course the choice is theirs), but I would certainly say get one if you already shoot and enjoy other Glock offerings.
